HELP US END MASS INCARCERATION The Prison Policy Initiative uses research, advocacy, and organizing to dismantle mass incarceration. We’ve been in this movement for 22 years, thanks to individual donors like you.

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chart showing the percent of people in prison in 2016 who were first arrested at age 18 or younger, by gender and race

Data Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics’ Survey of Prison Inmates, 2016 data analyzed by the Prison Policy Initiative. (Graph: Wendy Sawyer, 2022)

This graph originally appeared in Beyond the count: A deep dive into state prison populations.

A shocking 38% of people in state prisons in 2016 were first arrested before their 16th birthdays. View an alternate version of this chart for people first arrested at 15 or younger here. The underlying data for this graphic can be found in the report’s appendix tables.

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